cindy joyce career advice Archives

career advice, company culture, hr consultant boston, human resources consultant boston, human resources consulting boston

10 Things Nobody Ever Tells You about Working from Home

April 9, 2018 No Comments

When I started Pillar Search & HR Consulting, I went from working in the office 5 days a week to working from home 3-4 days a week. I have loved every minute of working from home. It has been a total game changer. There have been some surprises, though. If you are considering a role that allows you to work from home almost exclusively, here were a few of my “aha” moments:

I miss coworkers. Sometimes. Granted, I no longer have to listen to Ned from Accounting complain about the quality of coffee or Mabel from Client Services go on and on about her cats, but I miss the comradery and the ability to bounce ideas off of people. I try to do client or candidate lunches once or twice a week. Some days I will sneak out to the gym just to see another person during the day, because once in a while it feels isolating.
Be prepared to redecorate. Believe me, this was on of my biggest surprises. Spending hours on end in your abode will make you realize that cannot stand the paint color in your immediate work area. It started to feel too dark, so I painted it. And then the bedroom looked too dark. And then the guestroom. If the dog stands still long enough, he may get a coat of paint.
My dry cleaner misses me. We used to be on a first-name basis. Now I am just some person who brings in her “fancy” clothes every few weeks since the days of suits and dresses are few and far between. Now I work in yoga pants. You know it’s bad when I justify that they are my “dressy” ones, though on the plus side I am saving a considerable amount of money.
I now regret the money spent on shoes (okay, not really…) It’s just a wee bit challenging to justify what I spent on my shoe obsession when I now spend most days in gym socks. Same for the suits and dresses that now collect dust. If you believe that working from home will be your reality for the foreseeable future, consider paying it forward by donating some of your former work wardrobe to an organization like Dress For Success.
Maintain a Network: If you work remotely, you can still have a relationship with colleagues, albeit virtually. However, having people you see live and in person can be crucial to your sanity. Join a networking or professional group to ensure that you maintain much-needed, real, live contact with others in your profession or industry.
Those appointments that I used to schedule way in advance are a breeze. Those annoying four hour windows from the cable company? No problem! I’ll be here! Doctor has nothing in the evenings or Saturday for months? I’ll take that random Tuesday afternoon time slot!
Toilet paper. Not to be indelicate, but you never think about that when in an office. Ditto for water, pens, post-its, and coffee/tea. In an office, those things somehow magically appear. You will be amazed at how quickly you run through them. Be sure to stock up.
Time Management. Without the normal office cues to indicate time, it is so easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole of a project, look up, and realize the day is gone. You do not see people coming and going, or have the same number of meetings to break up the day – it is great because it keeps me focused, but sometimes I need to set a timer so that I remind myself to take a breather.
Family and friends think I am free to play. Set boundaries if you start to work from home. People assume that it means that you can chat on the phone at any time or meet them for downtime when they have a day off. That is not the case. I am working from home, with a big emphasis on the w-o-r-k.
MOVE! Living in the city, I often walked a mile to and from the office, and clocked thousands of steps while there going to meetings or to grab lunch. Now I need to remind myself to move. One thing that helped my waistline is the lack of the office candy bowl and endless birthday cake and leftovers from catered lunches, and if I ended a conference call in the office and started doing pushups, I would have been looked at funny. At home, it is a judgment-free zone.

There are a million perks to working from home, and if you can work around the very few challenges, you may just find your professional utopia. Good luck with it!

career advice, executive coach boston, hr consultant boston, human resources boston, human resources consultant boston, human resources consulting boston

What Career Changes Would You Make if You Won the Lottery?

January 30, 2017 No Comments

There is an old saying, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” Too often, however, people are trapped in a certain lifestyle by the belief that if you make the money, loving your career will follow.

Recently, I was working with an executive client who admitted that while his job was extremely rewarding financially, he was feeling uninspired and trapped. I asked what would prevent him from making a major change, and he said that he feels locked into his high paying job because he has two homes, an expensive country club membership, two adult children still “on the payroll,” and supports his father’s care.

I posed the question, “What would you do if you won the lottery?” At that point, the jackpot was over $150 million. Instantly, his demeanor and energy changed as he excitedly shared that his dream was to open a sailing center where he could rent out boats and offer lessons. This clearly is a dream that he has given extensive thought to, as he already knew where he would open this business, what the name would be, how he would attract customers, and that he would offer sailing camps to area nonprofits that work with children, such as Big Brother Big Sister and Boys and Girls Clubs.

Let’s be honest: the chance of winning the lottery or finding out that you have some unknown Daddy Warbucks relative who has left it all to you is pretty slim, but his answer and obvious passion made me wonder what others would do. In an unofficial study (okay, I surveyed friends and colleagues!), the majority reported that if they no longer had to think about money at all, they would travel for a year or two. Some would return to their current job full-time, as they believe in the company that they work for, and their work is interesting and enjoyable. Others would volunteer, take classes, or join the gig economy by consulting for organizations on a project basis so that they could have greater flexibility over the scope and intensity of their work. Surprisingly, only two said that they would make relaxation their full-time endeavor!

The other interesting responses from my entirely unscientific study were:

I would work, but in a much different way. I would speak more frankly and have less fear for losing my job based on my actions. I still love what I do. That’s why I do it.
Keep living life as is, until I thought of some way to use that money to start something that makes me happy and benefitted others. I think people need a purpose, so without working, or a goal, you would spend all the money on “things” to fill that need and run out of the money!
Now that I am doing something I actually like, I would keep doing it (this individual left a corporate job of over 12 years recently to run a family business)
I would keep working, but I would focus more on the aspects of my jobs that I love and outsource/reduce the things that I do not love. I would focus on creating. I would also devote time to the causes I love.
I would absolutely “work” but not doing what I do now. I would start a non-profit focused on something with girls in leadership both in the U.S. and internationally, or write a book about raising our next generation to eliminate the unconscious societal bias. And, of course, I would do all of this while traveling around the world with my family and friends, drinking delicious wine everywhere!
I would work, but would use my skills to help empower underprivileged women to create better lives for themselves and/or donate my time to nonprofits that support things that I am passionate about.
I would quit my current job to start a business focused on my hobby (some responses were to open a bakery, a cigar bar, and a dog walking business).
I started my own business a few years and love it so much that it feels like I already won the lottery!

In the case of my client, he is not ready to make the leap just yet, so we discussed how to find time to do what he loves while staying in his current role. We found a sailing center in Boston that offers lessons to disadvantaged children, and he is going to volunteer with them one evening a week, which will give him an opportunity to sail on a regular basis and gain the experience of teaching sailing to children. He and his wife have decided to start downsizing slowly in hopes of starting his dream business in the next 5-10 years. At the end of our meeting, we went to the convenience store around the corner to purchase lottery tickets. Fingers crossed!

If money were no longer an issue, what would you do differently in YOUR career?

Cindy Joyce is the CEO of Pillar Search & HR Consulting. Pillar provides national executive search services for exceptional non-profits and foundations and socially responsible for-profit firms desiring top talent who want an occupassion, not just an occupation. In addition, Pillar offers human resources consulting services, which was born of clients requesting help on projects beyond executive search, and includes leadership coaching, human resources audits, handbooks, assessing organizational design, training, team building, and employee communications. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on both the local and national level. For more information, please visit www.pillarsearch.com or email Cindy at cindy@pillarsearch.com.

career advice, executive coach boston, human resources boston, human resources consultant boston, human resources consulting boston

How to Deal With the Karen Walker Employee

June 14, 2016 No Comments

Remember the fabulous show Will & Grace? For those who were not privy to it, the show ran from the late 1990’s through 2005. Based in New York, it followed the lives of best friends. Grace Adler, a woman who ran her own interior design firm had an assistant, Karen Walker, a very rich, oft-drunk socialite. Karen made no bones about the job being a hobby for her, which resulted in some very funny moments. My personal favorite Karen-ism?

Grace Adler: Karen, I don’t want a check. I want assistance. I’m the boss. I give you checks.

Karen Walker: Yes, you do, honey, and I love them. I do. You know, I keep them all right here in this box.

While TV can show the hilarity of treating a job like a hobby, in real life it’s anything but. I’ve worked with two clients this year alone who were struggling with how to work with an employee who treated their job with a nonchalant, devil-may-care, laisez-faire attitude.

While I understand that everyone has a different tolerance for stress and some can make everything seem like a breeze, the Karen Walker employee is toxic because they do the bare minimum and seemingly flaunt it in the face of their boss and colleagues. They skim that line of acceptable performance, but seem to pull far enough away from underperforming at the last minute that it keeps them employed for far too long.

The cost you expect? Other employees. The Wills and Graces of the organization, the ones with actual passion for their job and a strong sense of work ethic. While underperformers can harm morale, the Karens pour gasoline on the culture you have tried so hard to build, and then slowly burn it.

The cost that may surprise you? It takes a huge toll on your brand and worth as a leader. People will wonder if you are either aware of their bad behavior and lack the guts to do anything about it, or if you are too clueless to notice.

Nip it in the bud. In the case of my two clients, they hired me to do coaching with each of their Karen Walker employees. The first? In Karen’s words, “Oh honey no, just no.” No amount of coaching, attempts at getting the employee to modify their behavior, recognize the impact on their colleagues, or gaining better understanding the company culture worked. Thankfully, the other person responded well to the coaching and was able to make modifications to their behavior and attitude and is now thriving. If only Grace Adler had hired Pillar Search & HR Consulting!